Why Should Politicians and Bureaucrats Decide Whether Breast-Cancer Patients Can Take Avastin?

The debate over Avastin, prescribed to about 17,500 women with breast cancer a year, has become entangled in the politically explosive struggle over medical spending and effectiveness that flared during the battle over health-care reform: How should the government balance protecting patients and controlling costs without restricting access to cutting-edge, and often costly, treatments?

A better question is: why should the government be the one to strike that balance? Why shouldn’t some women be able to sign up for a health plan that covers Avastin, while others are free to make a different choice?